70 Omicron Cases in India, Home Secretary Reviewed Preparedness in UTs
NEW DELHI, Dec 16: Amidst reports that Omicron variant of the Coronavirus has affected more than 70 patients in India, the Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Thursday reviewed the situation in the country to assess preparedness of health infrastructure of all Union territories to deal with the Covid-19. A home ministry spokesperson said the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan also attended the meeting in which the officials from Union Territory administrations also participated.
“The Union Home Secretary chaired a meeting today along with the Union Health Secretary to review the Covid-19 situation in UTs. Preparedness of health infrastructure of all UTs to deal with Covid-19 was also reviewed,” the spokesperson said.
Till Wednesday, India reported 68 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus. Telangana and West Bengal reported their first cases of the Omicron variant on Wednesday, while four more persons tested positive in Maharashtra.
So far, Maharashtra has reported the highest number of Omicron cases at 32, followed by Rajasthan at 17. Cases of the variant have also been reported in Karnataka (3), Gujarat (4), Kerala (1) Telangana (2), West Bengal (1) Andhra Pradesh (1), Tamil Nadu (1) and Union Territories of Delhi (6) and Chandigarh (1).
India has added 7,974 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 3,47,18,602, while the active cases declined to 87,245, according to Union health ministry data updated on Thursday. The death toll climbed to 4,76,478 with 343 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.
(Manas Dasgupta)
